Is anyone else disappointed that Diablo II severely downplayed the almost "survival" horror aspects of the first game?

[CenturionNami]

I'm playing the first Diablo right now for the first time in a decade; and it plays kinda like a top down survival horror game. There's tons of resource management, roughly a single dungeon that connects with one another in a very satisficing thematic way, with short cuts to previous areas, positioning is super important, players are far less powerful and flashy then the other titles, and it's all permeated with a thick atmosphere of unmatched dread. It's a dungeons delver, but with a huge amount of horror themes, in the gameplay and the atmosphere.

In contrast Diablo 2 kinda squashed that focused horror; levels are not interlocked with each other thematically, there's tons of dungeons and different areas instead of a single haunted place, and a single town, filled with tons of character, positioning is far less important, abilities are way more over the top, and the management aspect of the resources is more limited. I still think it's fantastic slasher, but it's far removed from the previous game; even more then Diablo 3 compared to 2.

 

[Viewt]

I didn't mind it, but that's definitely true. And then Diablo 3 takes it further where you're basically a demigod wreaking havoc wherever you go.

Still love 'em.

 

[Lunaray]

I definitely think Diablo was a much more focused experience. I don't inherently like the gameplay style of Diablo games, but I enjoyed Diablo enough to complete the game.

 

[bluexy]

I think it feels like a natural progression that retains a lot of the atmosphere and gamefeel you're talking about, even if the structure and progression of the experience are ultimately very different.

 

[Yuntu]

I certainly had something to it the other 2 don't have, can't really say I miss it though.

 

[Yatahaze]

Yep been watching my buddy play through it recently and it has crazy good atmosphere. Genuinely scary at times. Provides a decent challenge and had a satisfying difficulty curve. Diablo 2 is one of my favorite games of all time but diablo 1 has a starkly different feel but it's so good at what it does!

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Diablo = Alien

Diablo II = Aliens

 

[gothmog]

I wasn't disappointed because Diablo II was a true classic, but I always wished they did another original Diablo style game. So yes, I am disappointed but not for the same reasons as you.

 

[cgatto]

I LOVE the original Diablo. Totally agree woth you. I think I like II better, but my god Diablo felt really special when I was young.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

I could never get into Diablo 3 because it misses that thick atmosphere for me. Diablo 2's second and third acts were good though.

 

[werezompire]

It's a bit janky, but I enjoyed Silent Hill: Book of Memories on the Vita. It's very much of that old-school Diablo roguelike meets Survival Horror vibe.

 

[dom]

Diablo is just too slow. Love the cracked out speed of the later games.

 

[psilocybe]

Yes!

I prefer Diablo 1. The sequels focused too much on loot, grind and items containing a long list of bonus. It made the game boring to me.

 

[Cirrus]

It's Aliens to Diablo 1's Alien.

 

[Static]

Diablo was a really cool game. Diablo 2 was very different but... so much better. I really enjoyed the sequels a lot more. D2 blew me away when it came out. I don't mourn what was lost, but I'm glad the original is what it was.

 

[Novocaine]

Yeah Diablo was awesome. But for me once D2 was out it was hard to go back to. Same with 3 going back to 2.

 

[Rangerx]

Yeah the original definitely has the best atmosphere without a doubt. D2 is still my favourite in the series overall.

 

[senj]

Gameplay-wise Diablo was definitely much more directly in the vein of the ASCII roguelikes that inspired it, particularly the Moria/Angband family.

I get why they went big with Diablo 2 and 3 though. Diablo did well for its time but "crawl through another single location" probably wasn't a long-term recipe for success. Even contemporary ASCII roguelikes have gotten bored with that formula and gone with much grander scopes.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Diablo = Alien

Diablo II = Aliens

Click to shrink...

Probably the best comparison.

 

[Moff]

Diablo 1 has a special place in my heart, I loved the atmosphere, but I can't deny Diablo 2 was a massive improvement in pretty much every way. There is a reason they made a remake of 2 and not 1.

 

[jon bones]

Diablo = Alien

Diablo II = Aliens

Click to shrink...

It's Aliens to Diablo 1's Alien.

Click to shrink...

This is an excellent comparison

 

[Conan]

Nothing about Diablo 2 disappointed me.

 

[Mbolibombo]

Diablo nailed athmosphere, I think D2 has it beat in every other aspect though

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Diablo 1 is still the best when it comes down to atmosphere.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

That's probably why I liked Diablo 1's single player more.

 

[Garlador]

Diablo 1 was basically my original "Dark Souls".

 

[Ciao]

I played Diablo on PS1 at the time, and yes, the oppressing survival horro vibe still resonate with me today.

 

[jxN3]

diablo 2 is perfect

 

[Raide]

Diablo = Alien

Diablo II = Aliens

Click to shrink...

This pretty much sums it up.

 

[maximumzero]

I do prefer Diablo's smaller scope and more traditional feel.

It really feels like it's some dude against the forces of hell, whereas later Diablo titles make you feel like you're more prepared from the get-go.

 

[TheMoon]

I wrote this in the DIIR announcement thread:

Diablo 1 is still the unrivaled pinnacle of this series for me because I don't care about online and all that jazz. Diablo 1 was Dark Souls before Dark Souls. You go down into this rotten cathedral and descend into literal hell and you break like a twig and you only have what you pick up and stuff breaks on you and you can't see where the enemy that kills you a second later will came from. All wrapped in that incredible soundscape with those ominous tomes you find narrated with great VO. The D1 Anniversary Event in D3 was so disappointing because it nailed none of this. Nobody ever nailed it like this again. Diablo 2 went big and killed a lot of that vibe in that move. It's amazing in its own right, just like you can make arguments for D3 with its pure action chaos multiplayer fun loop.

Click to shrink...

I absolutely adore Diablo 1 (incl. Hellfire) and I'm fully with OP. Along with SimCity 3000, this was my first PC game on the first proper PC I built and owned.

Diablo 1 is the fresh and raw debut album that is always overlooked for the commercial mega smash hit second album that has nothing but hit singles on it, basically.

edit: also, yes, absolutely that Alien/Aliens analogy.

 

[maximumzero]

Man now I want to play Diablo, but it looks like it's not currently available for MacOS.

I have a PC, but it's pretty much a controller-only operated device, so Diablo would be practically unplayable on it.

 

[Calvinien]

Diablo = Alien

Diablo II = Aliens

Click to shrink...

Diablo 3 = Alien resurrection

 

[Static]

Man now I want to play Diablo, but it looks like it's not currently available for MacOS.

I have a PC, but it's pretty much a controller-only operated device, so Diablo would be practically unplayable on it.

Click to shrink...

DIABLO

d07riv.github.io

Shareware version available to play in browser, full version if you have the .mpq file from the full game.

 

[Starlatine]

Diablo 3 = Alien resurrection

Click to shrink...

nah, diablo 3 is alien 2: on earth

 

[JoeBoy101]

Diablo 3 = Alien resurrection

Click to shrink...

You missed the easy layup. Diablo 3 was definitely Alien 3. Crap when it came out, but after time it became much better, like Alien 3 with the directors cut.

 

[gnomed]

Diablo = Alien

Diablo II = Aliens

Click to shrink...

Yes, literally thought the same thing as I was reading the thread.

 

[III-V]

D3 is still fun, it is just a different game. Couch co-op on console is fantastic. Launch 100% sucked.

Not sure there is any ARPG that has those elements, OP.

 

[OmegaDL50]

The only thing I'd say is an issue with the original Diablo 1 is there was no specific skills for the Melee classes. It was all Magic Books, D2 diversified this a bit with the addition of Skill Trees on a per character basis, so it wasn't narrowed down to pumping INT into your Warrior or Rogue just for the bare minimum to do Chain Lightning or Novas.

D2 does share some of the atmosphere as well, especially in the First and Fourth Acts. The Monastery and Jail sections are similar to the first 5 floors of the Cathedral in D1 and the Catacombs are very much like some of the cavernous areas such as The Den of Evil. Also D1's Hell is fairly apt for the same environments shown in D2's Hell as well.

Another good example is the Countess Tower as well which feels very cramped giving the same claustrophobic and morbid environments you experience in the mid sections of the Cathedral underground.

It's just the more open environments like the plains in Act 1 and most of Act 3 with the Jungle don't give the same environments of gothic horror. Still the art direction and environmental design for D1 and D2 are pretty much spot on. Only very few amount of dungeons in D3 get remotely close to it, and that is mainly aping on Leoric's Crypt which is a retread of what many players already experienced in D1.

 

[ray_caster]

Even though Diablo 2 is the better game the original's atmosphere is unparalleled. Oppressive tone, a story that draws more heavily on Christian mythology, and a setting that feels much more intimate and grounded all build towards a much more horror-leaning experience than its successors.

The intro to the game perfectly encapsulates this:

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Diablo = Alien

Diablo II = Aliens

Click to shrink...

Perfect.

 

[KDR_11k]

I mostly played the first game in MP mode where death means you drop everything and respawn in town rather than having to reload a save. So Diablo 2 seemed like a natural progression.

 

[Calamari41]

Absolutely. I'm sure part of it is that I was that much younger when playing Diablo 1, but there's no doubting that Diablo 1 is a legitimately scary game. Diablo 2 is obviously stellar, and still scary, but it's a lot more like a cool, action-ey kind of scary vs Diablo 1's oppressive religious/demonic terror.

It's difficult to describe accurately but the poster who said it's like the movie Alien vs the movie Aliens was really spot on.

 

[Sinople]

Agree; the reason why I vastly prefer it over its sequels.

 

[Adventureracing]

Kinda but it's hard to be disappointed when Diablo 2 turned out to be one of the all time great games. I just wish we would get a Diablo 1 remaster already. It feels like the game has been left behind by blizzard.

 

[Bebpo]

I only played 1 & 3

Boy was 3 different coming from 1.

 

[Dec]

Yea I'm not sure disappointed is what I am, but I do love Diablo 1, it's my favorite Diablo game. But I also love ARPGs, and Diablo 2 basically sprouted a great blueprint for the genre I love.

 

[Clipo]

Gameplay-wise Diablo was definitely much more directly in the vein of the ASCII roguelikes that inspired it, particularly the Moria/Angband family.

I get why they went big with Diablo 2 and 3 though. Diablo did well for its time but "crawl through another single location" probably wasn't a long-term recipe for success. Even contemporary ASCII roguelikes have gotten bored with that formula and gone with much grander scopes.

Click to shrink...

Also, Diablo is a turn based game at the core that was basically animated to realtime with fluid turns of around 1 second of length.

Always is worth it to watch this GDC talk.

 

[Typho]

Agreed, I remember being initially disappointed with 2 because it was so much different. But then slowly being won over until it also became one of my favorite games.

The journey of Diablo 1 was just incredible, and I remember being absolutely stunned by the ending. Just great execution end-to-end.

 

[trimin]

Man I need to go back and play Diablo 1 for real. I only played the demo at a neighbor's house and I was too little to fully appreciate it. It did draw me in with its atmosphere however. If anything, my experience with the demo of the first game and its atmosphere made me instantly excited when I saw the box for Diablo 2. D2 became my number 2 game of all time (second only to Unreal Tournament).